a view right through : architecture : mirador apartment building : MVRDV + blanca leó : madrid

  the mirador building by MVRDV stands at sanchinarro, on a vacuous terrain in the northeastern outskirts of madrid, in a newly expanding zone bounded by the heavy-traffic arteries of the superhighway and destined to become a new residential district.
the project is part of the program promoted by the ayuntamiento de madrid for upgrading peripheral metropolitan areas that have been victimized by savage, unregulated urban development.
the third largest city in europe has, in fact experienced urban sprawl dominated by real estate speculation, devoid of any consistent plan and, even worse, with no concern at all for the architectural quality and livability of the districts involved. for this reason, in 2001 a number of madrid architects were invited to develop, in collaboration with great international design studios, proposals for apartment buildings that would respond to the growing, and increasingly varied, demand for housing, but would at the same time become a kind of icon, a reference point for the whole city.  text via : floor nature photos via : stupid pony                                                                                                  .